ST. LOUIS — Well out of the playoff hunt, each member of Derek Shelton’s roster has to find their own personal motivation to finish the season strong. For Nick Gonzales, that means capping off what has been an overall solid first full year in the big leagues.

After making a splash upon being called up in May, Gonzales cooled off as the year progressed. But one thing that Gonzales has seemingly always maintained is a steady heart beat in high pressure situations.

That was once again the case for Gonzales on Thursday, as he drove home the game-winning run with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to ultimately set up an 3-2 Pirates victory against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The win prevented the Pirates — who dropped the first three games in the series — from getting swept.

"Someone told me about how DJ LeMahieu kinda just takes every at-bat the same,” Gonzales said when asked about his late-game approach. “It's the most important at-bat, no matter the count, the situation, when in the year. I just try to do that the best I can, so every single at-bat feels the same. Obviously, emotions get going. But I just try to make every single at-bat as important as the next. Try to lock in and not do too much."

Gonzales’ heroics were set up by Oneil Cruz, who in his first start since Sunday due to an ankle injury, drew a two-out walk off Cardinal’s reliever JoJo Romero. With the tying run on first, St. Louis turned the ball over to Ryan Fernandez, hoping the right-hander could finish the inning.

Connor Joe, who pinch-hit for Rowdy Tellez, moved Cruz into scoring position with a single to right field. Gonzales then followed with another knock, smacking an 0-2 slider on the outer-edge of the plate up the middle to bring home the go-ahead tally.

“Overall, just really consistent, big at-bats,” Shelton said. “Oneil had a big at-bat, the walk, left on left there, to be able to do it and going first to third on Connor’s pinch hit. But overall, I thought Nick had really good at-bats.”

Gonzales finished the contest with a pair of hits, having also tripled and scored in the game in the fourth inning. His 2-for-4 effort lifts his batting average to .302 in the month of September.

"It's good to finish strong,” Gonzales said. “I just want to hit on all cylinders. Throughout the year, you're going to have ups and downs. I'm trying to minimize as much as I can. Try to stay locked in as much as I can.”

On the mound

Right-hander Luis Ortiz provided the Pirates with a quality start, allowing two runs on five hits and a pair of walks over six innings. Ortiz struck out seven batters, three from both his slider and sinker and once with his cutter. The slider was Ortiz’s most effective pitch of the evening, generating seven whiffs on 12 swings.

“I think the cutter and the four-seamer and the cutter and sinker were there, so when you have those two working, then you kind of go with it,” Shelton said. “He kept them off balance and he didn’t have to use it as much as he needed or has in the past. More balls on the ground because of it.”

Brendan Donovan was the primary thorn in Ortiz’s side Thursday night, tagging him for three of the five hits he surrendered and driving home both of the runs he allowed. Paul Goldschmidt was the other notable problem for the right-hander, tagging Ortiz for two hits and scoring on both of Donovan’s RBIs.

"He was taking good at-bats,” Ortiz said with major league coach Stephen Morales translating. “We were both doing our job and he won most of the time."

Carmen Mlodzinski replaced Ortiz in the top of the seventh, throwing a scoreless frame. Dennis Santana and Aroldis Chapman followed his lead in the final two innings of the game, securing the victory. Mlodzinski was the game’s winning pitcher, improving to 4-5 on the year. Chapman earned the save, his 10th on the year.

At the plate

Bryan De La Cruz drove home Gonzales with a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the fourth inning for the Pirates’ first run of the night. After falling behind 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Yasmani Grandal tied the game in the top of the seventh with a solo homer to right field, his eighth long ball of the season.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, similar to Gonzales, once again finished with a multi-hit effort, his fourth in the last five games. The Pirates as a club tallied eight hits in their victory, two more than the Cardinals.

They said it

Back in center field, Cruz started the bottom of the first inning with a bang, making a diving catch for the first out the Pirates recorded in their victory.

“That was a heck of a play,” Shelton said. “If that’s not a five-star play, I don’t know what a five-star play is. Good read on it, good beat. I was really impressed with the second hit Donovan had through the middle, the awareness that (Nolan) Arenado is not going to third. He threw the ball to the plate and it got cut, but just the little things like that are very encouraging.”

Up next

Friday: Pirates at Reds, 6:40 p.m., Great American Ballpark

Probable pitchers: RHP Mitch Keller (11-10, 3.87) for Pirates; RHP Nick Martinez (9-6, 3.37) for Reds.

Key matchup: Keller has received one run of support or less when he has been on the mound six times in his past 10 starts.

Hidden stat: Nick Gonzales has reached base in 10 straight games.

Saturday: Pirates at Reds, 1:10 p.m., Great American Ballpark

Probable pitchers: RHP Jared Jones (6-7, 3.85) for Pirates; RHP Rhett Lowder (1-2, 1.74) for Reds.

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